When is the best time to start a personal pension plan?

The chance that your State Pension will be enough to live on later is small. Especially if you want to maintain your current standard of living. That is why it’s good to have a nest egg. But when is the best time to start saving for your pension?

With a personal pension plan you can top up your State Pension amount with additional savings. The government encourages this kind of saving by offering tax relief on your pension plan, under certain conditions.

There are only three requirements for starting your plan:

You have to be at least 18 years old and no older than 64.

You must have a taxable income

You must be living in Belgium, or in another European Economic Area member state, when you sign the contract.

The earlier you start your retirement savings, the higher your potential return will be. And by starting early, you’ll benefit from the accruing interest and income.

The best time to start saving for your retirement is today!

Not yet begun saving for your retirement? There is probably a good reason: your income was directed to paying off your mortgage, providing for your growing family, or buying a new car… And perhaps you have already seen off your 40th, 50th, or 60th birthday. But none of this prevents you from starting now. After all, the best time to begin is always today. The tax advantages are available provided that your savings plan runs for at least 10 year. That means you can start a pension savings plan at age 55 and still benefit fully from the tax advantages.

What should you do and when?

Younger than 50? Contact ING as soon as you conveniently can to determine your investor profile.

Between 50 and 55? You can still build up a solid amount of capital and enjoy years of tax relief. Start saving in a personal pension plan before your 55th birthday and pay pension tax when you turn 60 (the anticipatory levy). You will also enjoy more tax relief in the final years of the contract (between the ages 60 and 64), which are completely tax free.

Between 55 and 65 years old? At this point, the focus shifts from return on investment and towards pension tax advantages. If you start a pension savings plan after 55, the contract must extend for at least 10 years. In which case, you would be paying the anticipatory levy not at age 60, but ten years after your first deposit.

Saving for your pension after 65? Saving and/or investing for your pension is always an option, but starting after 65 means foregoing the benefit of tax relief.

Don’t delay your retirement savings plan any longer

Start your retirement savings plan with ING today, so you can look forward to carefree enjoyment of all your plans in the future.